Balancing Oxidation-Reduction Reactions - AP Chemistry

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Question

What is the coefficient on sulfur dioxide if the following redox reaction is balanced in an acidic solution?

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Answer

Balancing redox reactions involves the following steps:

1. Divide the reaction into oxidation and reduction half reactions and balance all atoms that are not oxygen and hydrogen:

2. Balance the oxygens by adding water molecules on the opposite side of the reactions:

3. Balance the hydrogens by adding protons to the opposite side of the equation:

4. Add electrons in order to equal the charges on both sides of the equation:

5. In order to make the electron exchange equal in each half step, we must multiply the top half reaction by 3:

6. Add up the reactants and products while cancelling out substances on opposite sides of the reactions. For example: we will cancel the 6 water molecules as reactants and be left with only one water molecule as a product. In addition, only 2 protons will be left on the reactant's side after canceling the 12 from the product's side.

In the balanced redox reaction, the coefficient on sulfur dioxide is 3.

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